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Monday, September 15, 2014

Senator Ted Cruz was speaking at a solidarity dinner for In Defense of Christians (IDC) as part of a conference for Middle Eastern Christians when he was heckled and eventually booed off stage for the following comments:

"Tonight, we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight, we are all united in defense of Jews. Tonight, we are all united in defense of people of good faith, who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who dare disagree with their religious teachings.”“Religious bigotry is a cancer with many manifestations. ISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, state sponsors like Syria and Iran, are all engaged in a vicious genocidal campaign to destroy religious minorities in the Middle East. Sometimes we are told not to loop these groups together, that we have to understand their so called nuances and differences. But we shouldn’t try to parse different manifestations of evil that are on a murderous rampage through the region. Hate is hate, and murder is murder. Our purpose here tonight is to highlight a terrible injustice, a humanitarian crisis.”

As the jeers filled the venue, Cruz declared: "I am saddened to see that some here, not everyone, but some here are so consumed with hate." He was interrupted by shouts of "all of us!" and "leave the stage," and one audience member shouted "you speak for yourself."

As the president of IDC Toufic Baaklini tried to calm things down, Cruz finally gave up and left the stage, but not before he told the crowd:

"If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. Good night, and God bless."

One would think that persecuted Christians could relate and understand the plight of persecuted Jews in the region, but I guess not. Supposedly there were Christians who support Hezbollah and Syria there, some of whom were also speakers at the conference.

Among them were Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Rai, who has defended Hezbollah's right to attack Israel and expressed his willingness to meet with the terrorist group's leader.

Another speaker, Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, has disclosed that he had a recent meeting with a "high-level delegation from Hezbollah."

Church of Antioch Patriarch Gregory III Laham, who also spoke, has blamed terrorist attacks against Iraqi Christians on a "Zionist conspiracy against Islam" designed to give "a bad image of Islam."

A Zionist conspiracy against Islam? Wow.

Cruz told the Free Beacon:

"I've certainly encountered audiences that disagreed with a particular point of view. But this virulent display of hatred and bigotry was remarkable, and considerably different from anything I've previously encountered.

"The division and anti-Semitism expressed tonight by some of the crowd is not reflective of the teachings of Christ, and is in fact directly contrary to the tenets of Christianity."

But not everyone is outraged about the anti-Semitism Cruz encountered. Even some on the right, and plenty on the left have criticized Cruz for his pro-Israel comments, claiming it was politics. Some even believe the audience was booing the politics not the comment itself, like Matt Lewis on The Daily Caller. But if one of the speakers believes in a Zionist conspiracy against Islam, it's quite obvious the reasons behind all of the booing. There are Christian anti-Semites- take Jimmy Carter, for instance.